Wendy Kaminer

SLEEPING WITH EXTRA-TERRESTRIALS

The rise of irrationalism and perils of piety

In spite of its title, this book is not about UFOs and has little to say
about abduction claims. It is really about belief systems and the
irrationalities and absurdities into which they may lead us, at both the
personal and the public level. Kaminer sees the present enthusiasm for
belief systems as a retreat from rationality. Pretty well inevitably,
she finds herself writing about religion, insisting that it is
unjustifiable to separate "respectable" religions such as mainstream
Christianity from so-called fringe religions or "cults". She denies,
however, that she is setting out to attack religion as such. She
identifies herself as an agnostic, not an atheist, and acknowledges that
there seems to be an inbuilt human need to form religious beliefs. She
does not claim to be exempt from all belief systems herself; in a
disarming foreword, she admits to consulting a homeopath. What is
harmful, she maintains, is not so much belief systems themselves as the
inability to keep them in their place and to subject them to rational
criticism. For example, the divinity of Christ is a matter of faith,
but claims that prohibiting mandatory school prayer have increased the
crime rate can and should be tested empirically.

Kaminer is American, and religion has a greater degree of prominence in
the USA than in most other nominally Christian polities, so it is
natural that she focuses almost entirely on the North American scene.
Most of the writers whom she cites are American, and she has much to say
about what she perceives to be the baleful influence of religion on
American politics. This preoccupation with American affairs, though
understandable, does somewhat limit the relevance of the book for
readers in other countries. Even so, the trends she identifies are to a
considerable extent universal, at least in industrialized countries, so
their relevance is not confined to the USA. In Britain, for example,
there seems to be an increasing trend today for politicians to identify
themselves as religious believers and church attenders. But things have
seemingly gone further in America, where it is difficult for critics of
religion to make themselves heard. Some seventy years ago, the columnist
H.L.Mencken was openly scornful of religion, but he would find it
difficult to publish his views today. Virtue is supposed to be
indissolubly linked with religion, and atheism is often equated with
immorality.

It is not only Christianity in its various guises that is influential in
the USA; so, too, are numerous and often bizarre forms of what Kaminer
calls pop spiritualty. Books such as "The Celestine Prophecy" sell by
the million, and huge numbers of people, it appears, are regularly
encountering angels. Angels are not, in principle, much different from
aliens, and the similarities between the two have often been remarked
on. Aliens could indeed be considered as angels (or sometimes devils)
with technological clothing. (It would be interesting to know if the
incidence of alien abductions is beginning to fall as the number of
angelic encounters rises; is it perhaps the case that overtly religious
experiences are becoming more psychologically available without the need
for a technological context to make them acceptable?)

Assurance of personal immortality is an important component of many of
these belief systems. Often this takes the form of reincarnation; there
is a popular vogue for therapies that purport to elicit memories of
previous lives. Kaminer laments the absence of any sense of criticism or
questioning among the participants in groups dedicated to eliciting such
experiences, but she recognizes that the purpose of attending is to
obtain reassurance; and a questioning attitude is exactly what is not
needed for this purpose.

Many of the belief systems criticised by Kaminer are supported by claims
that they are confirmed or validated by science, especially quantum
physics. Since this is mysterious to everyone, physicists included, it
allows New Age gurus such as Deepak Chopra to dress up their not very
original ideas in pseudo-scientific garb. Lack of originality is, in
fact, a selling point for writers such as Chopra; as Kaminer astutely
remarks, mass-market advice books do not succeed unless their underlying
message is mundane. Chopra is a descendant of nineteenth-century
alternative healers like Mary Baker Eddy. Both claim that sickness and
aging are the result of faulty perceptions, and are therefore unreal.

This is a sane and often entertaining book that deserves a wide
readership. Unfortunately, however, it is unlikely to be read by the
people who would most benefit from it.